The Top End

Greetings from Darwin...the top end of Australia in the Northern Territory. It has been a while since my last post. There were a couple of places that I had hoped to visit in the Northern Territory long before the study leave commenced but they seemed remote. Not only did I make it to here, but I managed to fit in both places: Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education in Batchelor (about 100 km south of Darwin) and the National Library of the Northern Territory in Darwin (the sign in the picture above points the way). I dropped in on the libraries without appointments and had really good talks with librarians about what they do to welcome students to their places. What we talked about was familiar: staffing, personal service, displays of appropriate artwork, recognising cultural practices, etc.

Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education

The librarians at Batchelor, Ann Williams and Claire Nield were very hospitable and welcoming. They work with students who are older, often away from their communities for the first time, and are unfamiliar with how a library works. Claire told me a story of simply having students into the library and taking them on a bit of a walking tour to show them the resources about their mob (their Aboriginal group), to find materials to read and then just sitting down in some comfortable chairs and reading. It wasn't 'library instruction', per se, but it was a welcome introduction for students who otherwise knew very little about what was there, and it also gave the students a chance to just be in the space.

The library is a lovely space with lots of natural light, a collection of about 40,000 items (many in Aboriginal languages), a good display of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artwork from all over the country, and (among other usual things) a flat panel monitor that they use heavily to advertise events, to show pictures of communities from where students have come (and where other campuses of the instution are located), to advertise opening and closing times and to recognise donors. This last bit was the most intriguing. A student had donated a couple of books in language to the library and the librarians asked if they could take her picture and post it on the monitor. The student agreed and now her smiling face and those books are up on the monitor and her friends who come to the library are really excited to see her there. Something as simple as that has helped to make students feel more welcome and struck me as something that we could try -- not only to honour our Indigenous students and their donations, but really, to honour all donors in a more obvious and public way.

Because my visit was completely unplanned, I had no camera with me (why, oh why?) so I have no pictures of the campus nor of the library.

National Library of the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory National Library in Darwin was my next stop. Fortunately, I remembered the camera and have some pictures to share. Here's a shot of the outside of the building -- the library is in the Parliament Building.

It was a particularly hot day (about 35 degrees), so going inside was a good thing. Everyone passes through security to get into the building -- because the library is located in a parliament building, security is a given.

The library itself is in a space that was originally designed for a second house if Parliament ever got bigger. In a sense, they're temporary patrons of that space, but they've been there for a number of years now, and government is not getting bigger in the Northern Territory, so it seems their space is secure, even if some politicians feel they shouldn't be there, or better still, that the library should be for the politicians only, not the public.

The day we visited, the library was busy -- full of people doing research, using the computers, and hanging about reading. The central staircase seen in the picture above takes you up a couple of levels to special exhibits and downstairs to the main collection and their special collections. The help desk is along the wall to the far right.

In the last year, the library has developed an Indigenous display that fills up a corner of the library. As a State library, it's important to reflect the population the library serves, and the librarians realised that something had to be done. Hence the display area.

Here are some shots of the area -- note the display of baskets, fish nets, and art on the walls. The baskets are made from pandanus and are dyed using natural ochres found in the bush.

The librarians I spoke with said that it was about time they did something to recognise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, given that they are the State library. I heard this comment a lot - about how important it is to create a space for people so they feel comfortable and welcomed, rather than turned off or intimidated.